2019 Vini Scirto ‘Don Peppinu’ Sicilia IGT (Etna)

“The idea from the first day was to work the vines and make the wine just like Grandpa did: with minimum intervention and zero chemistry.” — Giuseppe Scirto

Here, on the northern slopes of Sicily’s epic volcano, Giuseppe Scirto and Valeria Franco tend a true polyculture: 4 hectares of vines and 1 hectare of olive, nut, and lemon trees, all at 600-1,000 meters above sea level. Carricante, nerello mascalese, and nerello cappuccio planted between 1900 and 1930 in black volcanic sand and pumice soils. Giuseppe and Valeria’s personal history with the land coupled with the tiny, two-person scale of their farming give them a visceral grasp of grape and terroir. Working organically in the vineyards and with radical minimalism in the cellar, they bring forth wild and lively wines. Even as the wines flirt with funkiness, this is never allowed to obscure terroir expression. Giuseppe and Valeria have no formal wine schooling, but are guided by their own intuition, the teachings of Giuseppe’s grandfather, and a primal respect for their untamable terroir. 

The vineyards Giuseppe and Valeria work today belonged to Giuseppe’s grandparents, who produced bulk wine, “as everybody was doing on Etna until about 20 years ago,” Giuseppe points out. When Giuseppe’s grandfather, Don Pippinu, died in 2005, it was at a time when small vineyard owners on Etna had begun to sell off their holdings. Giuseppe’s nostalgia and ties to his land prevented him from selling. 

“In 2009, we started to work the vineyards. 2010 was our first vintage. The idea from the first day was to work the vines and make the wine just like Grandpa did: with minimum intervention and zero chemistry. We did not study enology. Perhaps our own ‘ignorance’ initially allowed us to make this choice. Having a great passion, being connected with many other producers, and being self-educated has helped us to know more deeply about the vines and the wine. In the vineyard and in the cellar, we work, just the two of us.”

Don Pippinu comes from a vineyard at 700 meters above sea level with very deep soil and pumice, offering wines that are more structured and built for  longer aging. Vines here are 80 years old on average and include both nerello mascalese and nerello cappuccio. Grapes are crushed by foot, fermented by native yeasts and co-fermented with a composition of approximately 85% nerello mascalese and 15% nerello cappuccio in stainless steel tanks. Maceration averages two weeks. All their choices depend on the sensations they feel every time they taste from the tanks and decide the days of maceration according to the vintage.  Even the decision of whether or not to add sulfites is a very sensitive one. In cases where they decide to add, it is always under 40 mg/l.

Pomegranate, rhubarb and graphite and tart red fruit. Try with roasted or pork braises, grilled sausages and onions, eggplant parmigiana.